Grimes Ready For Act 2

WILLIAMSBURG — When Jonathan Grimes talks to incoming William and Mary freshmen about handling their first year of college, his listeners would do well to heed his words.

There may not be a more qualified advisor on the subject.

Grimes, the Tribe's sophomore running back, found time between summer workouts to participate in the school's five-week PLUS Program, which gives incoming students a chance to meet, mingle and adjust to college life.

His credentials for such a job are hard to dispute. He's the reigning Colonial Athletic Association offensive rookie of the year after setting a William and Mary freshman record with 929 rushing yards and leading the conference with 162 all-purpose yards per game.

Now all he needs is a class called "What to Do for an Encore."

"I can't be the freshman of the year or anything again," Grimes said. "You've just got to forget about it. For football players, a good thing to have is a short memory. If you do something bad, you've got to forget about it. If you do something good, you've got to forget about it. I'm just looking forward to moving on."

After being pressed into immediate starting service because of a spate of preseason backfield injuries, Grimes enters this preseason as the Tribe's No. 1 tailback. One-time starters Terrence Riggins, a junior from Denbigh High, and junior Courtland Marriner are recovered from the ankle and knee injuries, respectively, that hobbled them in 2008, but they're left to work their way back up the depth chart.

"We cheer each other on every play," Grimes said. "We all bring something different to the table. Courtland's super-fast, Riggins is huge. We just bring something different to the table and help each other out."

Grimes didn't need a whole lot of help last season, when he scored seven rushing touchdowns and also caught two TDs as part of his 314 yards on 39 catches. His 24.5 yards per kickoff return also led the CAA, and he was selected as an honorable-mention national rookie of the year candidate by College Sporting News.

So there's got to be some pressure on Grimes to live up to that debut, right?

"I know he's obviously a very driven and a very determined person, but I don't think he necessarily broadcasts his personal goals," William and Mary running backs coach David Corley Jr. said. "He's definitely not someone who's going to put that in front of the ultimate team goal. If there is pressure, I don't see it affecting him. ... I think that he gets enough from myself and (head) coach (Jimmye) Laycock as far as expectations of what we expect him to do. I don't think there's any more pressure he could be placed under."

Opponents, beginning with Virginia on Sept. 5, will do their best to belie Corley's words. Grimes grew accustomed to being a focal point of defenses last season, but that focus will only intensify this season with Jake Phillips, who threw for more than 7,000 yards and 57 touchdowns in his career, gone and first-year starter R.J. Archer in his place at quarterback.

"Obviously you want a 1,000-yard rusher. That's great," Corley said. " ... He's going to definitely work hard at it, and he's definitely going to give everything he's got. But at the same time, people are going to be keying on him, so it may be a little difficult for him to get those numbers. But that doesn't mean we're not gonna try."

For now, Grimes is working on understanding all aspects of the Tribe's offense - blocking schemes, pass protection, route-running. Last year, he said, "I wasn't really sure what everyone was doing. I just knew my assignment. Just understanding the whole thing helps you a whole lot. You can almost know what's going to happen on a play before it even happens if you know the blocking schemes and what everybody's going to do."

That knowledge could make Grimes even more dangerous.

"The more experience he gets, he'll just get better and better," Corley said. "As far as things he needs to improve on, you don't ever want to tell somebody they don't have anything they need to work on, (but) he does most things pretty well."